Wonderment-o

My past weekend…

But before that, I will have to premise this by saying, weeks before and following these glorious days, you could and will find me unshowered with a laptop in bed, memorizing marthastewart.com (I know, none of us saw that coming or is choosing to believe it) and drinking TIME magazines like I have no social life. I actually love it. I’m not in denial, I swear. No one really believes that I am a professional introvert, but trust me. I can stay in my cave for a year without a friend and not cry. This is assuming that I have the internetz though.

Anyway, onto my past weekend. (Warning: I have not blogged in such lengths since high school). So this fellow came to visit.

I still remember the moment Jaron, standing at the San Jose airport with his luggage, saw the world’s one and only still-standing red Toyoto Previa make its way towards him. Immediately, he started running with the hugest smile on his face. I barely parked that sucker before I jumped into his arms, and thus began the best five days I’ve had in awhile.

We started off with a chef’s tasting menu with S at The Plumed Horse, a Michelin star-rated restaurant in beautiful Saratoga. The tasting menu was overly ambitious [major understatement] for a girl who’s never paid more than $25 for a meal, but my friend is a seafood cook there so we got great treatment and a tour of the innards of a super high-end restaurant.

(Okay the real reason why we were there was because there was a huge misunderstanding and we ended up ordering the wrong thing and selling our firstborn to the restaurant when we thought it would be on the house, but that’s okay! And by okay, I mean that Jaron and I have not stopped mourning about it till this day!) The food was great. Once I get a job and pay for the damage, I’ll have the heart to go into details.

The next morning, I packed some sandwiches and Vienna sausages (we started an exclusive fan club; so far, population-2), and we were off for some breezy hiking through wonderland otherwise known as Point Lobos in Carmel, CA. This is actually my mom’s favorite retreat/date spot with my dad, and I tried not to think about that while I was there. Mission: successful (whew).

I’ve been there several times as a kid, but things just magically become way more beautiful when you’re with a cute guy (sorry mom). Jaron and I had made a prior agreement upon his visit that we would exploit his Canon xsi and “snap liberally”. Camera shyness banned–confidence, legalized. It was a crime how few photos we have together when he has such a good camera in possession.

One could say, we took it too far. While reviewing the photos, we laughed at how pretentious these came out. That was some radical snappage. But one could also say, dang. That was some beautiful earth happening in the background. How could we not?

Unfortunately, China Cove, where I used to play as a child, was closed off for momma seal to feed her pups. No kidding. So we trekked down Gibson Beach and laid a towel. We ended up hanging out there for a total of five minutes because apparently flies are also in their heat (Springtime!), and we were their fateful targets of lust.

At one point, Jaron said, “Jen, don’t look at your foot right now. I don’t even want to tell you how many flies are feasting on it.” Thankfully, I wasn’t even tempted, and slept peacefully that night.

The next day was completely spent in San Francisco. The main reason we got tickets to go to the Academy of Sciences was so I could check out the new planetarium. Just like how pregnant women crave pickles, I’ve been craving planetariums. The show was amazing. I even let out one or two yelps during in Jen-like fashion (that satellite came out of NOWHERE). They’ve completely redone the museum, adding in a freaking rainforest, and architected the place so it’s sustainable. Too bad we chose a Saturday afternoon when it seems every mom and nine year old had the same idea as I did.

We strolled around Golden Gate Park, found a shady grassy spot that was within proximity to street jazz players and the Conservatory of Flowers. And the rest of the day included exploring more of the park, the beach of Hwy 1, and having a fun dinner with some of Jaron’s family.

The following days of his stay, we got to do everything we said we would do: record a song, hangout with friends, watch a movie (“I Love You, Man” was HILARIOUS, go swimming, sit in my marketing class, and even hangout with my grandparents in dowtown San Jose and Palo Alto. Glorious! And then he left.

I’m not sure when the next time I’ll see him will be yet. Long-distance is a tricky thing. But it feels good not to be scared about it at all. While everything else so so shaky in my life, it’s nice to have something that’s only getting stronger.